Bellator FCBellator MMA (Bellator) is the 2nd largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in the USA and the largest tournament-based MMA organization in the world. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, the company was formed in 2008 by Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. Bellator’s events are primarily structured around tournaments. The tournament winner is declared the number one contender in their respective weight class, and is awarded a check for $100,000 and a shot at the reigning Bellator champion. Bellator uses the motto “The Toughest Tournament In Sports” Bellator FC now airs on Spike TV Thursday nights!

Cole Konrad, a two-time NCAA wrestling champ who transitioned to MMA and dominated the competition in the tournament-based promotion, is for now retiring from the sport.

Plans to find a new champion are unclear at the moment. The news first was reported by Twincities.com and subsequently confirmed to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) by a source close to the promotion.

The Twincities.com report said Konrad, 28, is leaving fighting to become a financial trader at a Minnesota-based firm that supplies ingredients to the feed, pet food, food processing and chemical industries. Konrad will specialize in trading milk products.

Bellator officials declined comment on Konrad's retirement.

Konrad (9-0 MMA, 7-0 BFC), who won his NCAA titles while at the University of Minnesota, made his MMA debut in 2010 and earned two wins before signing with Bellator. He went on to fight in the promotion's inaugural heavyweight tournament and swept the field to become the Bellator heavyweight champion.

He defended his title in March with a 60-second submission win over Eric Prindle.

I didn't see it coming but it by no means surprises me. Bellator is a joke and this is what happens when you have a dude with less than 10 pro fights fighting once per year for 50k at best. He takes his college education and gets a real ******* job.

He had the option to jump to the UFC after his contract. He must just not want to make it his career.

__________________"I fear no man, but Jim Harrison and Mike Stone are the two last men that I would wish to meet in an alley fight. Jim Harrison's fighting style is not flamboyant or spectacular, it's just simple and deadly!" - Bruce Lee sakurabushidokan.homestead.com

Just when his skills were starting to come together he does this. It sucks but I guess good on him for getting a decent job where there is zero physical risk. When an MMA fighter retires what really do they have left at the end of it?